Black and White Picture of Raja Ugar Singh of Hindur, 1840-1850 (from Archer's book on Punjab Hills Paintings) Picture the year: 1795. The foothills of the Shivaliks are tense, echoing with the tramp of armed men and the grinding pressure of regional rivalries. Down in the valleys, Raja Ram Saran Singh Handuriya of Handur (modern-day Nalagarh) is caught in a grinding political bind. For years, Handur has ridden the coattails of Kangra’s aggressive campaigns against its bitter historical rival, Bilaspur (then known as Kahlur). But looking out across his contested borders, Ram Saran Singh faces a heavier, more haunting question: Does he continue serving as a satellite to Kangra’s ambitions, or does he break away, side with Maha Chand and Bilaspur, and reclaim a fractured sense of Rajput honor? The friction between Handur and Bilaspur was rooted in continuous struggles over strategic border zones, crucial river-crossing points, and the Satgarha (seven forts) territory. Because Handur...
1533 Painting of the Likeness of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (source: Agha Mehdi Husain) History has so many lessons and anecdotes hidden in its womb, and sometimes it becomes rather difficult to even search them. It is like trying to discover the innermost layers in an onion, where you fail to realize where the original bud lies underneath the layers that you keep peeling away. This is unfortunately the case of the history of the larger Punjab Hill states region, where historical research seems to be stuck in a rut and there is a lack of effort to revisit history and see the nuances once again. Be that as it may, it is rather interesting at times when you stumble across instances that make you wonder how it slipped your eye all this while. As is still claimed, the history of the Pathania rulers of Nurpur tends to become clearer only in the middle ages, as more 'reliable' sources start referring to the region and its rulers. One such source was the history of the Muslim conquests w...